When it comes to innovations in healthcare, Maneesha Ghiya means business.
As a venture capitalist and investor at hedge funds, the Harvard Business grad has spent more than 25 years — pretty much her entire career — investing in healthcare.
But when a medical emergency almost took her life, Ghiya saw firsthand the need for innovation in women’s healthcare specifically. So, she started her own venture capital firm, FemTech Ventures, to fill that gap.
FemTech Ventures partners with businesses to advance women’s health through medications, devices, digital and artificial intelligence, and diagnostics (imaging, tests and tools).
The firm’s investment approach looks at women’s health conditions in three ways: “Only women” (endometriosis), “mostly women” (breast cancer) and “differently in women” (heart disease).
“We created and published this framework in 2019, and it has since been adopted by many others across the healthcare industry. By defining women’s health more broadly, we are able to identify and bring forward innovations that address conditions across women’s health,” Ghiya said.
We asked Ghiya for her thoughts on the technology-based solutions that are making waves in women’s health, and how her own health scare inspired her passion for change.
Our interview follows, edited for clarity and length.
HealthyWomen: Tell us about your experience with postpartum hemorrhage and how it led to the launch of FemTech Ventures?
Maneesha Ghiya: When I gave birth to my daughter at Columbia University under the care of a top OB-GYN, I encountered serious complications.
What began as an emergency C-section turned into a crisis with an undetected internal bleed. Four surgeons performed a reoperation that was ultimately unsuccessful in locating the source, and I was transferred to the ICU, where I underwent 10 transfusions of blood and platelets.
Fortunately, my body caught up with the bleed, and I survived. But that ordeal fueled a desire for me to make a difference in women’s health, which led me to found FemHealth Ventures.
Read: Postpartum Hemorrhage Is a Deadly Problem >>
HW: Historically, we know that women’s health has been overlooked and underfunded. How is femtech helping to broaden interest in women’s health?
Ghiya: We invest in drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital and artificial intelligence in the women’s health space. We consider femtech a subset of women’s health and would see any software or AI platforms tailored towards women’s health falling into our digital and AI investment focus.
For example, we invested in a company called Cercle. Cercle AI’s product analyzes patient records within a fertility clinic, allowing doctors to quickly access data on how similar cases were treated, including protocols, success rates and side effects.
This helps optimize treatment plans, leading to higher success rates — which, for those familiar with the IVF journey, is incredibly impactful.
Read: Infertility Isn’t Just a Physical Journey — It’s an Emotional One, Too >>
HW: What are you finding most exciting in the world of femtech right now?
Ghiya: I’m excited to see how AI and robotics can raise the standard of care across medical centers.
One exciting application we see in the robotics and AI category is for needle-based procedures. For instance, consider epidurals during labor — 1 in 10 either fail or need adjustment because each person has a different anatomy, which makes it challenging even for experts to achieve precise needle placement.
One of our portfolio companies, Mendaera, has created a robotic needle-guidance device that combines ultrasound imaging with robotic delivery.
Beyond epidurals, this technology can be applied to procedures like nerve blocks and breast biopsies. This is a game changer because, previously, only highly skilled clinicians could perform these types of procedures with efficiency and accuracy. With this robotic and AI guidance system, more clinicians can deliver needle-based care more precisely, which is highly impactful for patients who may not have access to major medical centers.
HW: Since launching FemHealth Ventures, tell us about a product/innovation that has been particularly memorable for you.
Ghiya: We were very excited when our portfolio company Gynesonics was acquired in January by Hologic. Currently, more than 200,000 women in the U.S. undergo hysterectomies each year due to the severe and often debilitating symptoms of fibroids.
Gyenosonics offers a new solution: a non-surgical, outpatient procedure using radiofrequency ablation. The procedure is incision-free, allowing women to return to work as soon as the next day — compared to the months-long recovery associated with surgery. Thanks to Gynesonics, hundreds of thousands of women will avoid hysterectomies. It was exciting to see this amazing innovation be brought to more women through this acquisition.
HW: What big advancements are you hoping to see in women’s healthcare in the near future, or what should we have on our radar?
Ghiya: I am excited to see more solutions for women in the postpartum depression (PPD) space. Unfortunately, maternal mortality rates in the U.S. have been on the rise in recent years, with PPD being a significant contributor. In response to this urgent need, we invested in Reunion Neurosciences, which is developing a breakthrough drug therapy to address PPD.
It involves a one-time, four-hour treatment administered in a specialized facility by trained medical professionals [and has shown promising results in clinical trials]. The drug therapy is currently undergoing a full FDA trial and approval process and will only be available under medical supervision.
Read: When Postpartum Depression Hit, I Heard Only the Lies My Depression Told Me >>
HW: What’s your advice for how readers can help support innovations in femtech?
Ghiya: We encourage anyone interested in supporting women’s health to stay informed.
My company regularly posts articles on our LinkedIn about key updates in the women’s health space and updates from our women’s health focused portfolio companies. A great example of a recent update in the women’s health space is the Gates Foundation pledging $2.5 billion to women’s health initiatives. We are thrilled to see the growing focus and momentum in the women’s health space.
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